胡敏讀故事記托福詞匯083：駛向羅馬尼亞的船 The ship to Romania
“He looks pretty good for someone who was embalmed a hundred years ago,” Jean said. She and Sally had embarked at New York and were headed across the sea to Romania. Old vampire stories had been embedded in her memory since childhood. Her mother had embellished them, but Jean still believed them to be true. Now, she found herself escorting the corpse of a Romanian who had emigrated to the United States more than a century ago. He looks so alive. She wondered if he would emerge from his coffin at night as a vampire.
瓊和薩利從紐約上船，越洋前往羅馬尼亞。瓊從小時候起，那些古代吸血鬼的故事就深深刻在了她的記憶中。母親講故事時又添枝加葉，聽起來更離奇古怪，但瓊還是信以為真。現(xiàn)在瓊正在護送一具一個多世紀以前移居美國的羅馬尼來人的尸體回國。瓊說：“一百年前他死后，人們對他進行了防腐處理，現(xiàn)在看起來還很完好。”他看上去像活的一樣。瓊懷疑他晚上會不會像個吸血鬼似的從棺材里冒出來。
“Judging from the emblem on his coffin and the handmade embroidery on his shirt, he must have been someone of great eminence,” Sally said. “It has been at least a thousand years since anyone embroidered such an intricate design by hand.”
“從棺材上的標志和他襯衣上的手工刺繡來判斷，他肯定是個有顯赫聲望的人，”薩利說，“人們能手工繡出這么復(fù)雜的圖案已民至少有一千年了。”
“That’s not all,” Jean said. “All of the shipping invoices are embossed with a special seal. He’s not just any eminent man. I think he might be a royalty.”
“還有呢，”瓊說，“所有的運輸發(fā)票上都飾有專用圖章的浮雕花紋。他不僅是個聲望顯赫的人，還可能是皇室成員。”
“I remember reading something in my history book,” Sally said. “Centuries ago, a Romanian prince embezzled money from the royal treasury to fund his bizarre research. The royal family found out and disavowed him. They even emended the royal journals to remove his name. He did a lot of research into the embryological origins of a rare blood disorder in vampire bats. He dissected their embryos and documented every stage of their embryonic life. He wrote several disquisitions. They embodied all of his theories but the ultimate solution eluded him.”
“我還記得歷史書上的一個故事。”薩利說，“幾個世紀以前，一個羅馬尼亞王子盜用國庫的錢進行他稀奇古怪的研究?；适野l(fā)現(xiàn)后就來阻止他。他們甚至修改了皇家議事錄，取消了他的名字。后來，他從胚胎學(xué)的角度對吸血蝙蝠罕見的血液失調(diào)的起因進行了大量的研究。他解剖了胚胎，記下它的胚胎時期每一個階段的發(fā)育情況。后來，他寫了幾篇專題論文，其中包含了他所有的理論，但他沒能提出問題的最終解決辦法。”
“Are you telling me the truth or are you just trying to frighten me?” Jean asked. Her eyes widened as she felt a sudden emission of air coming from the nostrils of the corpse.
“你在講真事還是想嚇唬誰?”瓊問道。接著，她瞪大了眼睛，因為她覺察到那具尸體的鼻孔里突然呼出氣來。
“Embrace me!” the corpse said.
“擁抱我吧!”尸體說話了。
Words:
embalm v.以香油(或藥料)涂抹以防止腐爛,使不朽
emark v.上船,裝船,登機,開始,從事
embed vt.插入,鑲嵌
embellish vt.裝飾,修飾,給(敘述)添加細節(jié),對…加以渲染
embezzle vt.盜用,挪用(公款)
emblem n.象征,標志,微章
embody vt.包含,體現(xiàn)
emboss v.加浮雕花紋于,使凸出
embrace vt.接納,包含,擁抱,懷抱
embroider vt.繡花,裝飾
embroidery n. 刺繡
embryo n.胚胎,事物的萌芽期
embryological adj.胚胎學(xué)的
embryonic adj.胚胎的,萌芽期的
emend v.訂正,校訂
emerge vi.出現(xiàn),浮現(xiàn)
emigrate vi.自本國移居他國
eminence n.顯赫的聲望
eminent adj.著名的,顯著的
emission n.散發(fā),發(fā)射
